Bad start
Opting to bat first, Pakistan made two changes from their heavy defeat against India, leaving out Shaheen Shah Afridi and Abrar Ahmed. Khawaja Nafay and Salman Mirza were brought in, with Afrida omitted after a poor outing against India.The start was cautious. JJ Smit produced an excellent innings as he kept Saim Ayub on the back foot with a drive into the batter before finishing with an outswinger. Only three runs came from it. Farhan opened his account with a boundary from Gerhard Erasmus, courtesy of a mis-fielder at cover, but Namibia soon held on.Ayub showed flashes of intent against Ruben Trumpelmann by turning the pads, though he was lucky when a thick outside edge flew past the diving Zane Green. That gave 12 runs and allowed Pakistan to breathe a little.Jack Brassell’s introduction initially unsettled Farhan’s bowling, but the opener eventually eased up as he blasted a four over the keeper, his first authoritative knock after 24 balls. Confidence quickly followed when Farhan attacked Trumpelmann.Ayub’s stay ended in the fifth over. An innocuous wide delivery led him to a free nudge and he fell behind for 14. Captain Salman Ali Agha then joined Farhan and immediately gave him momentum with a sharp cut past point.Pakistan reached 47 for 1 at the end of the over, but the middle overs brought the pressure. Spinners Willem Myburgh and Bernard Scholtz played with discipline, allowing a small and suffocating strike rotation.
Finding his groove
The relief came when Salman danced down the track to lift Myburgh straight into the first six of the game. Farhan followed three balls later and cleared mid-wicket twice, while Myburgh’s second was settled for 22. Farhan was visibly struggling with cramp but refused to slow down.At the halfway stage, Pakistan were 85 for 1. Salman continued the attack, driving Smit over fine leg and lifting Scholtz for another six. Farhan reached his fifty off 37 balls, scratchy but effective, based on persistence rather than fluency.The 67-run stand ended when Brassell induced a mistimed loft from Salman, who departed for a brisk 38. Salman also played a key role in helping Farhan improve his technique against short-run bowling.“Salman has given me valuable tips which have helped me improve my balance and play in the side. Now I score more freely in that area,” Farhan told Geo Super during PSL 2025.Khawaja Nafay was sent in front of Babar Azam and hit a boundary first ball but his stay was short as Erasmus removed him with a well-judged catch.Shadab Khan came in next and Pakistan’s intent was clear. Farhan, now in full flow despite severe cramps, shifted into fourth gear. He bowled Smith over long on, forcing a change of ball and greeting the new ball with another boundary. Brassell was then dismantled for a six and a four as Farhan closed in on history.On his knees between deliveries, Farhan finally reached his century off 57 balls and raised his hand in celebration. He became only the second Pakistani to score a T20 World Cup hundred. The knock was built on determination, muscle and perfect timing and was studded with eleven fours and four sixes. His fifty came off 37 balls and he reached his next fifty in just 20 overs.Shadab provided the finishing touches with an unbeaten 36 off 22 balls as Pakistan posted 199 for 3, powered by a crucial innings from Sahibzad Farhan.
Rocky road
Farhan made his international debut in 2018. His career began in bizarre fashion without facing a ball from Glenn Maxwell. In his next match against Australia, Babar Azam opened and scored 39 off 38 balls. He played nine matches for Pakistan, batting in multiple positions before being pushed down the order and dropped from the set-up.In 2024, when he was the captain of Pakistan A, he publicly criticized the management for unfair treatment and questioned the opening slots of Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. “I didn’t get proper chances as an opener. I have the right to play as an opener for Pakistan,” he said then.Despite aggregating 605 runs in the 2025 National T20 Cup – the most in a single season – Farhan initially went unsold in the PSL 2025 auction. Islamabad United later picked him up in the supplementary category and he repaid by finishing as the tournament’s top run-scorer with 449 runs in 12 innings.Farhan once dreamed of becoming a fast bowler. “I started as a tape-ball fast cricketer but after a disastrous over, my coach asked me to focus on batting,” Cricfrenzy said during the BPL.After a long and rocky journey, the explosive opener has found his groove. As of 2025, he is the only batsman in the world to have scored five T20 centuries. Farhan’s batting at the top will depend a lot if Pakistan are to go deep in the tournament.Cricket careers rarely move in straight lines and Farhan’s career has been anything but smooth. Yet on a humid Colombian afternoon, the opener who once waited on the sidelines, questioned, doubted and overlooked, answered every question in the only way that really matters in cricket – runs.A brief score Pakistan: 199 for 4 in 20 overs (Sahibzada Farhan 100 not out, Salman Agha 38, Shadab Khan 36 not out; Jack Brassell 2/48)Namibia: (Lauren Steenkamp 23, Alexander Busing-Volschenk 20; Shadab Khan 3/19, Usman Tariq 4/16)